Summer is here and it is officially the season of fresh produce. Many of you will grow your own produce (ours is slowly growing in our yard) and others will purchase your produce from the store. Regardless of where your produce is from, you should still wash it well – especially if you don’t grow it yourself. Did you know that frozen blueberries were found to have the highest pesticide residue at 28%, with strawberries coming in at a close second at 25%. Celery had a 19% contamination rate. That is just disgusting! If possible, buy local and organic. Although remember, local doesn’t mean that no pesticides were used.

A lot of people run their produce under water and think it is actually getting it clean. Wrong! The best cleaning method is to wash produce with a diluted vinegar solution. Studies have shown that a vinegar solution removes 98% of all bacteria or pesticides, compared to 80% when washing with a water and brush.

Make a basic vinegar solution and then put it in a spray bottle. For every cup of white vinegar, add three cups of water. Shake well and spray your fruits and vegetables with the solution. Make sure to rinse the produce well with cold water so your fruits and veggies don’t taste like vinegar. (I have a small spray bottle so I use 1/3 cup of vinegar and one cup of water).

This quick vinegar trick will keep you and your family safe from those nasty pesticides lingering on our produce. Happy summer produce eating!